


Rumbelle RP Memes

by Kylie1206



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Future, Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold in the Dark Castle, Canon, F/M, Fluff in the Dark Castle (Once Upon a Time), Inspired by Roleplay/Roleplay Adaptation, Memes, Roleplaying Character, The Dark Castle (Once Upon a Time)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-11-08 15:55:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 57
Words: 19,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11084943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kylie1206/pseuds/Kylie1206
Summary: A collection of Memes answered on my RP account http://rumplerps.tumblr.com/. All prompts are issued by my wonderful Belle, http://bellefrenchroleplays.tumblr.com/.Some may be rated M - I will detail as such with each posting.Most will be canon. Anything that is not will be detailed as such with each posting.





	1. Chapter 1

**AU Prompt - Our muses escape the city to start a new life together!**

****

Rumpelstiltskin had never felt more free. Yes, he would miss the town and the inhabitants, even Regina, but he and Belle had made a solid plan. They would leave Storybrooke and go and explore the world. Then, they would find a place they wished to settle and live their lives together. A visit occasionally back to Storybrooke would occur - especially if he were to complete his work on offering her a life as long as his to spend with him - but this was the new start.

He’d chosen her. Her over magic and as much as it had been a challenge to go without magic in the build up, he’d done it. He’d proven he could live without magic and he would do so for her. The one thing he had done was ensure his limp would be repaired, the one thing that would linger should his spell have been successful. 

He’d done two months in Storybrooke without a single jot of magic. At first he’d slipped and done a few small spells but ultimately he’d managed it. Because he knew that as much as he was the dark one and would always have that in him, he had to be a man. A man that could be a good husband, a good father. A man that could give Belle the life she deserved. 

She’d agreed that on returns to Storybrooke if he needed to do a spell or two to release any pent up need that he could. He was very much like a junkie where magic was concerned and though total abstention would perhaps be for the best, he knew that the darkness inside of him would fight to be seen, to be used. It was better to do it in those small doses and ensure nothing could go wrong than run the risk of ruining the life they had built together. 

Besides, he was still the most powerful of them all. If the town needed him, they were agreed too that he would return to do a good deed with his dark magic, should the need arise. 

He turned his head briefly, looking over at his heavily pregnant wife and smiled. A hand reaching to rest on her stomach, he hummed in a contentedness he had never truly expected to feel. “Are you ready?” He asked, the vehicle just moments from the town line. “Because I am." 


	2. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rated T/M

**Our muses get curious and visit an ‘adult’ store!**

Tucked away in an alley way, in a corner of the town that was home to places such as The Rabbit Hole was a store Rumpelstiltskin had never held any interest in. Why would he? His cursed self was as focused as he on business and deals and once the curse had broken he had been reminded that he was a broken hearted man, pining for who he thought to be dead. 

He and Belle had been vanilla. He and Lacey had been an eye opener. He loved Belle deeply and had told her, repeatedly, that regardless as to whether they were adventurous or not, it was perfect every time to him when they were intimate. She however seemed more curious than he and it meant he had relented when she asked to visit this store. A store Lacey would have had no issue in visiting.

He glared at the shop owner as they entered, daring him to ever utter a word of this to anyone else. A light blush met his cheeks - as it did to Belle’s - as the two of them nervously explored the store. Neither felt entirely comfortable in there though both of them were oddly curious. He could be a very sexual man when he wanted to be, but insecure to a fault also. Even still he sometimes wondered why a woman as perfect as she was interested in an old man with a limp. But true love worked in mysterious ways.

He never thought he’d be stood in a store staring at a variety of toys but such was life. Hearing his name as Belle spoke it he jumped slightly and looked at her with embarrassment, cheeks burning the moment he saw her holding lingerie, looking coy and nervous herself.

“Breathtaking,” he blurted out, already picturing her in the outfit. She would be breathtaking, she would be tremendously so. “Utterly breathtaking, Belle.”


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Golden Lace

**“Killer skirt, deadly legs.”**

A breathy laugh and Rumple was grasping on to Lacey’s waist, dragging her in closer to him with a clear hunger in his eyes. She was quite the woman and entirely confident in her image. An image he had grown to enjoy now he knew that she was his, just as he was here.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.” Yes, he missed the outfits Belle wore and how the line between tease and restraint was always danced upon unlike Lacey’s all out seduction but he loved her regardless. Because Lacey was a part of Belle. The dark part that he knew Belle would never wish to see the light of day but oddly the part that allowed Rumple to do as he wished without secrets. A part that he wished she would allow to live when she returned to her proper self, so that she too could see every side of him, just like he could see every side of her.

“All for me?” He questioned with amusement, a smirk to the corner of his lips. With Lacey raising her eyebrows and smirking back he knew exactly what was about to happen between the two of them and so with a flick of his wrist he had the door to his shop locked to give them the privacy he knew they were to need.


	4. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belle is in labour...

**“If you don’t shut up, I will personally stab you in the eye with a spork.”**

Rumple resisted the urge he felt to ask Belle where on Earth she would source a spork whilst in the middle of giving birth to their child but instead he silenced himself and held on to her hand. Her grip was vice like and he’d already switched hands four times in order to spare himself further pain. He’d offered to give her a potion where she wouldn’t feel any pain but Dr. Whale had warned that in doing so she wouldn’t be able to feel when ready to push or even if an issue arose. Apparently women could tell during childbirth if something just didn’t feel right.

So he’d tried to encourage her and tried to be supportive even as he felt utter terror at the prospect of being a father again. Not being a father, per se but being the kind of father to their baby that he had been to Baelfire. He was afraid that he would fail them, fail Belle but that was something he would deal with on his own terms. For now, he was trying to support her but every avenue he went down earned him one of three things; a sore hand, a death glare or a threat to his safety. 

Though this time she’d managed to combine all three. Magical, she certainly was.

“Shutting up,” he spoke, mimicking a zip motion over his lips. Ironically, even that earned him a glare from her. Childbirth certainly was not the magical experience people seemed to think. Perhaps the end result was, but this? Was an experience so horrific even Rumple - despite all the deeds he’d done in his life - felt wary of repeating experiencing.


	5. 5

**We could go backpacking?**

“We could also go bungee jumping, but neither of those is going to happen,” his eyebrow rose up as he regarded his wife. Belle was making plans for when they began to explore the world. New York was first but she was compiling a list of places and things to do, reading them out to him as he worked over restoring an item to it’s original state in his shop.

“That one can go off of the list. Along with – what did you call it – glamping? It sounds like a venereal disease. I imagine it’s the kind of thing you do if you wish to catch a venereal disease.” His hands worked over the item, his gaze not once leaving it but his face was the picture of animation. There were many things he’d agreed on doing but those two were the ones he felt were unattractive prospects.


	6. 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Throwback to Belle/Will. Ugh, I know.

**"This has nothing to do with you.”**

Scoffing, Rumple shook his head as he gestured towards her or more specifically, towards her hand. “On the contrary, this has everything to do with me. You may not wear the ring any longer but we’re still married. Regardless of your… status with Will, that’s a fact.” He didn’t like, in the slightest, that she was dating someone else. Especially whilst they were wed but he figured it made sense; she’d banished him, gotten rid of him and moved on. How was she to know she’d ever see him again? Her intention had been the opposite after all.

It was the most painful rejection of his life. A reminder, too that even when he had true love he was capable of destroying it. He would never have his happy ending but it didn’t stop him from wanting to try with Belle. To earn back whatever trust he could so they could begin again.

“So I’ll ask one more time and hope for your honesty. Do you love him, Belle?”


	7. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belle/Will awfulness.

**“And if I say yes?”**

Rumple was sure in that moment his heart stopped. He’d asked her if she loved Will and there was a genuine fear that she did and he had lost her forever. He would keep fighting for her, of course, but it would still make life a hell of a lot harder. His had shook and he lowered it slowly, resting it against the glass counter he was stood beside there in his shop.

“…then I would hope you would say so out of honesty and not a need to hurt me further.” He responded cautiously. Cautious because he didn’t want to anger her further but at the same time he didn’t want to dance around it. He wanted - no, needed - to know what he was up against.

“He’s very different to me. I know, he doesn’t lie to you but I don’t think he’s everything you want. Or need. Maybe I’m not but I definitely can say that about him. He’s just a man. Simple, a thief but that’s as far as his dark side goes. And whether you like to admit it or not, you fell in love with me for being a man and a beast. I think part of you, Belle, likes the danger. The thrill. The endless possibilities. You won’t find that in Will.”


	8. 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belle gets tipsy and her husband takes care of her.

**Our muses take a bath together!**

Belle had been convinced, in her inebriated state, that she needed a bath before bed. Rumple however had been trying to coax her in to bed along with a glass of water. He’d promised to remain with her all night to take care of her but she’d decided that meant he’d agreed to get in to the bath with her and take care of her.

He didn’t have the heart to argue, so was settled down with Belle resting her back to his chest, her drifting between falling asleep and forcing herself to stay awake. He’d tried to get her to drink as much water as possible but she was the stubborn sort. 

He would admit though that this particular moment of stubbornness was one he was enjoying. The water was warm, her skin so soft and being so close to her was never something he felt a desire to pass up on. Perhaps they could do this again in future when she wasn’t pawing at his face drunkenly with a soap covered hand, asking him - for the sixth time now - if it was morning yet and she’d escaped a hangover. Something she seemingly wanted to do just to prove him wrong as he’d warned her she would if she didn’t drink enough water.

The seventh touch to his cheek was one that lingered as she drifted off there in his arms. Finally she was resting, and with a wave of a soaked hand of his own she was dry and in bed, sleeping with a soft, alcohol induced snore. He pressed his lips briefly but softly to her own, kissing her goodnight.


	9. 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dark Castle Rumbelle

**“Keep in mind that people change, but the past doesn't.”**

It was with a curious look that Rumpelstiltskin withdrew back from Belle with a step and a slight tremble of his hands. A tremble he did his best to cover up with a little flourish to them. She had intrigued and baffled him since the day the deal had been struck. For whatever reason she did not fear him. Rather, she felt some sort of kindness towards the man that had effectively taken her from all she knew.

She seemed determined to break through his walls, to know the man beneath the bluster and magic. She seemed to want to know him and not the man he forced the world to see. Not the monster that would turn you in to a toad for looking at him wrongly, but rather the man that kept his son’s clothing in a room upstairs, a room he visited dead in the night when even his spinning wouldn’t allow him to forget. 

Did she want to know his weaknesses? He’d said that before, pointedly and expectant but again she’d surprised him by brushing past that as if it were the most ludicrous idea. Part of him actually believed in her, too. That maybe, just maybe… no, no he wouldn’t - couldn’t - allow himself to entertain any slim possibility that perhaps what she saw would be something she could like never mind love.

They had been discussing an incident where someone had attempted to double cross him years before and had again come to him for help. Rumpelstiltskin had turned the man away but Belle, ever curious, had overheard. So as he told her bluntly of how the man had lost his sight for attempting to double cross him she seemed not horrified, but something else entirely. Like she wanted him to have a chance to make that right.

“…perhaps.” He agreed briefly, already knowing that in a matter of hours he would agree to assist the man, to give him back his sight and it would all be for one simple reason; because of Belle.


	10. 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Underworld Rumbelle

**" I'm a monster."**

Rumple had no idea how to convince Belle otherwise. She had held the Darkness inside of her, she had controlled it to a degree in a way only he had been capable but even then she hadn’t done as she had here with Gaston. Yet, if she had not, he would be the one with his soul enduring an eternal torture.

That was something he needed her to know, to realise and see. That she had done the heroic thing and sometimes the heroic thing wasn’t as pretty and bright as the storybooks would tell you. Sometimes doing the heroic thing meant pain for the hero. Sometimes doing the heroic thing meant darkening your heart because sometimes doing the heroic thing meant doing something dark. Something he hoped she now realised.

Being a hero wasn’t about all good deeds. Not to be a real hero. Sometimes you had to do the things nobody else would or could for the sake of others. That, to him, was what a true hero did.

“No, you’re not. Belle, you saved my life. You saved the father of our child. You saved our future. Gaston was trying to kill me and who knew what would happen to you, after. You did what needed to be done and that is the measure of a true hero.”


	11. 11

**“Just because that’s mistletoe hanging above us doesn’t mean I’m going to kiss you.”**

Waggling his eyebrows down at his wife, Rumple briefly glanced upwards at the little plant he’d placed above their heads before back down to her. In their land, Christmas wasn’t something that was celebrated. It didn’t even exist there but here it was such a marvellously big deal that it was impossible to avoid.

When on his own for those 28 years, cursed, he’d not cared for the holidays. He had nobody to share it with and was known as something of a scrooge around the town. But with Belle and her childlike enthusiasm over the whole event, it was impossible to continue to be a scrooge with her. She clearly loved the magic of the holiday down to the lights, the decorations and the music. So he had a distinct feeling that she would also enjoy the romance.

He’d felt foolish at first as he asked David precisely what it was about mistletoe that made it so magical but here and now, with Belle before him, he was excited to share this with her. Even if she was playing hard to get over the whole deal.

“Well, I certainly hope you _do_. Otherwise I’ll have to share a kiss with whomever enters the shop next. I personally hope it’s Leroy. The horror in his eyes would be worth every beard burn imaginable.” With her he could joke. He could laugh and he could say things that he knew he would never say to others. She saw a part of him that nobody else did, nor did he feel deserved to. The mixture of spunk from the dark one and the kindness of the man. 

“I think for our first Christmas as man and wife,” he paused briefly, unable to resist a smile himself whenever he referred to them as such, such was his pride. “It would be only right for us to enjoy as many traditions as possible, starting with mistletoe. So, Mrs. Gold, what do you say to sharing a kiss with a man who loves you dearly?”


	12. 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Underworld Rumbelle

**" I killed someone."**

His lips did purse together a moment as he bit back an initial response. Gaston was already dead, after all. Now he was just condemned to an eternity of suffering. Something he personally didn’t mind the man having to endure. He’d been positively ghastly in life, seeing Belle as an object for him to procure (in Rumple’s opinion, at least) with her Kingdom something to own. In death he’d remained obsessed and it was frustrating to Rumple. He knew of Gaston’s reputation in life, knew he would have been terrible for Belle and yet the man remained arrogant in death as if Belle was a damsel needing saving.

If Rumple had learned one thing about Belle in all their years he had learned this; she was most certainly no damsel in distress unable of taking care of herself. Yes, he liked to protect her all he could but she had done her fair share of protecting others, of making sure people were safe. She was capable, far more so than Gaston had ever given her credit for.

They had returned to his shop there in the underworld and he shook his head, reaching out to take hold of both of her hands gently. “No, you didn’t. Belle, you protected me. I am forever in your debt for how you protected me. This is… what we do. We protect one another. That’s what this was so please, don’t look at it in any other way.”


	13. 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dark One Belle.

**❛ When you are gone, will I lose control? ❜**

Scoffing as he practically skipped around the forest, hands gesturing, Rumplestiltskin shook his head. “Oh, dearie. I’m not going anywhere. But you _will_ lose control.” The imp was as torturous as ever there in her mind, dancing and trampling over her fears. She was one of the purest souls to take on the darkness but that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t break. All it needed was a little push, and then all the good times could roll.

“You might as well _enjoy_ it.” He added, a little giggle following as he moved to take a seat on the log in front of her, legs crossed, hands bracing against his knees in a coquettish pose. “I don’t know why you insist on trying to play hero, dearie. It never quite goes right, does it?” Nose wrinkling, he knew just how to push her buttons. Not because he was the manifestation of Rumplestiltskin but because he was part of her. Her mind, her fears, her worries and insecurities. He knew how important playing the hero was to her - it was why she’d taken on this darkness - but it would also be a way to break her.

“In the immortal words of your dear Elsa; let. it. _go_.”


	14. 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rumbelle in 6A

**❛ I don’t think you’re knowing how hard this is for me. ❜**

Rumple scoffed as he looked at his estranged wife, his hands bracing on to the glass of the countertop before him. Just days ago she’d walked out of his life due to the words of supposedly their unborn child and he had not stopped since, trying to come up with a logical explanation as to why that couldn’t possibly be their child saying those things. But she’d still taken heed and walked out of his life. Again.

“Oh, enlighten me then, please. Because I am spending every waking moment trying to understand how our unborn child could _possibly_ know and hate me as much as he allegedly does. That was a trick, Belle. I don’t know how, I don’t know why but I’m the master of tricks and manipulation, and that was a play out of that book.” Pushing up from where he leaned he walked around the counter, a whirl of his hand as a potion appeared within it.

“I don’t suppose you’ll trust me enough to take this but I hope you will. It’s a protection spell, for you and our baby. If you insist on being away from me I at least need to know you’re safe. There are dangers in Storybrooke beyond even my understanding Belle, and I need to be sure of your safety.” He held the potion out to her and once she took it, drew his hand back, gesturing a moment with it that he was going to say just one more little thing.

“Which, ironically, is all I’ve ever done for you. Ensure your safety. You’re angry at me, and I understand. I lied, because I’m a coward. I took back the darkness because I’m a coward. Or rather, that’s the excuse I think you want to hear. But the truth is, I took it back because I like having it. Because I know I’m the only one who _can_ have it. Emma, the saviour, wasn’t strong enough to control the darkness and well, your new best friend, precious Killian tried to leave our world and every other they could touch to the wrath of each and every dark one before. But have I ever done so? No. I, and only I, can control this. Bearing the cross of the most hated and feared man – monster – is a very small price to pay for your safety. In the grandest scheme of things, things beyond a squabble here, anyone else with this darkness within them has failed to control it. Which means they have put people at risk. You, Belle, fall under ‘people’. Be as angry at me as you wish, but I’m not as entirely selfish as you seem to believe. You once saw that in me. Perhaps one day again you will. But only you can do that. Whatever I say, whatever I do, it proves to not be enough. So walking out on me very well may be hard for you. But what I do? Don’t underestimate just how hard that is too.” 

It was a home truth and he had often resisted hitting Belle with those for fear of hurting her but what use was it now? Perhaps that was precisely what he needed to do. Not hurt her, but give her the home truths she hadn’t heard from him before. As dark and vicious as he could be, his love for her was true. His intentions with taking on being the Dark One were selfless the first time, and now they were layered; selfish and selfless. A mixture of the man _and_ the beast.


	15. 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 6a Rumbelle

**“I can’t do this anymore. Not with you.”**

“Fine,” Rumple responded, a firmness in his voice that took Belle by surprise. Evidently she had expected him to argue with her, to try to convince her otherwise but he was defeated, resigned to the knowledge that a villain like him would never get his happy ending. That had died with Baelfire and any attempt to find one with Belle was futile. She expected too much of him, she was inflexible with her views and no matter how hard he tried, he was never enough.

He was tired of fighting her. Tired of fighting _for_ her. 

“I understand. I’m not the man you want me to be and regardless of how I try to change or fit a mould you wish for me, the standard to which you hold me is unobtainable. Perhaps this is for the best. Until you’re able to accept me for who I am, then this distance will do us good.” And if she never could then so be it. It would hurt beyond a way he could phrase but it hurt more to be rejected so often by her. It hurt more that she could forgive the pirate that had tried to kill her on multiple occasions as well as him, but couldn’t forgive her own husband.

He was a villain, and he wasn’t meant to get his happy ending, so maybe it was time he stopped fighting for the impossible.


	16. 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rated T

**“Be quiet! They’re going to hear us.”**

Rumple chuckled quietly as he pulled his wife in closer, the two of them having become rather enamoured with each other as Snow White hosted a birthday party for her husband there at Granny’s. By default Rumple and Belle were invited; they all liked Belle and Rumple was family. Rumple of course had only agreed to go when Belle had given him her doe eyes, but they had soon turned in to a darker, more wanting set of eyes as the evening wore on.

So the two of them had escaped behind the counter of Granny’s diner, back in to the storeroom to enjoy closeness as they kissed as if they were teenagers, giddy to be with one another. Now he was tilting his head to kiss at her neck, a hand supporting her - she was, after all, pregnant and that made him overly protective - as his other braced against the door behind her. 

“To be fair,” he murmured against her pale skin, “You’re the noisy one.” And the one who, in her second trimester, had found herself almost always ready to be ravished by her husband. If the dwarves did indeed hear them or - gasp - see, then it would be an education for them, if nothing else.


	17. 17

**“I hear your insults and plan to silence them with my victory.**

Robbie sat back in the chair with a grin on his lips. Belle was surveying the chess board with a wrinkled nose and curious expression, clearly trying to find the best move to back out of the corner he’d pushed her in to. His last move had left him with ‘check’ declared, and he knew he was only a matter of 3, perhaps 4 moves away from victory. Unless, of course, she pulled something magical out of the bag and surprised him.

“…I don’t know, Belle. I don’t think it’s possible. You might want to just give up now and save yourself the next half an hour of staring at the board before I–”

“Check mate!” Belle declared smugly as she surprised him, evidently so with his slack jaw and wide eyes, with a move out of nowhere that left him with no place to go, no chance of victory. He leaned in towards the board and braced his hand against his cheek and chin, eyes scanning over as he tried to read the pieces and see first of all where her move had come from and second of all how he had possibly missed it. Thirdly, he wanted to make sure he truly was at a loss here, despite his bragging and bravado.

“…Christ, how did you do that?!”


	18. 18

**“You’re lying.”**

It was with a sigh that, resigned to the fact she wouldn’t believe him regardless, Rumple rested down the tools he held as he worked on an intricate piece in his shop and braced his freed hands on to the counter top. “No Belle, I’m not. I haven’t agreed to help the Charming’s because I don’t have anything to help them with. Which is why I’m working on this,” he nodded down towards the items, items he was working on without the use of magic because he knew the intricacies of what he needed to do. “Once this is complete, then I have something to assist with.”

Besides, magic always came with a price and he didn’t feel there was a price worth paying for something he could do on his own without.

“No magic, to eliminate the possibility that the price of said magic would be the failure of this to work. I’m working on this, and there is no deal being made. I’m helping because, well, they’re family, aren’t they? Sometimes even The Dark One can just want to help family.” Henry would be at risk if he didn’t help and Henry was his last connection to Baelfire. So Henry would, always, be someone he sought to protect.


	19. 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dark Castle Rumbelle

**"You can’t hide the truth forever, you know.”**

Rumpelstiltskin could not, for the life of him, understand why this woman wasn’t afraid of him. He didn’t understand why she saw some good in him and that was even after he’d given her a library under the pretence of another space for her to clean. A place for her to sleep, to read and to be at peace. He suppressed his feelings for her so much and hid behind his mask of evil that he could not grasp just how she saw past it.

Nobody else ever had done, so what on Earth made her different?

“You presume I have something to hide,” he pointed out, gesturing towards her. “The secrets of the Dark One are secrets for a reason, dearie. But I will tell you one truth,” he took a slight step closer to her then, hands pressing together as a look of mischief crossed his face. “I would like a cup o’ tea right about now.” He lay his accent on thickly then and ended with a brief giggle, knowing - but not acknowledging to himself - how that made her smile. Divert her away from a deep topic with another flashy show.

He needed to buy himself the time to work her out, to try to understand just what it was she saw when she looked at him.


	20. 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU - Belle was the Dark One, not Emma

**“What the hell is wrong with you?!”**

_“What the hell is wrong with you?!”_ Rumpelstiltskin mimicked as he hopped along and took his spot astride Excalibur, gesturing to the hilt of the sword with golden hands. “I think we both know it’s you having the problems right now, dearie. Can’t silence the voices,” raising one hand in gesture with a smirk, he continued on. “And can’t bring self to torture your husband.” His other hand raised up as he giggled, hands both resting back down on to the handle of the sword still encased in the stone.

“If you really want to take a big ol’ tug of this rather large sword then you know what you have to do. He’s used to it. Oh remember that frog skin torturing him and locking him in a cage? I do, oh, he was a miserable thing to be inside of then. But he’s used to it so run along. Pick ‘im up, bring ‘im here, and torture ‘im till he’s good as gold.” Though Belle was hiding her plans well from the Dark Ones inside her head they - Rumple included - knew that she wanted a pure heart to take the sword out of the stone. He also knew that when he’d first taken the darkness that was exactly what Rumple had; a pure heart. So logically, if he was forced to be a damned hero and do her bidding then he’d have the heart of a hero, pull the sword out and voila; whatever nefarious plan she had, would keep rolling.


	21. 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 6A

**"This has nothing to do with you.”**

“On the contrary, this has everything to do with me. Belle, you may want distance from me and I respect that, I will give you that, but this _ship_? With Hook, of all people?” Rumple was trying to understand it but no matter which way he looked at it, however he tried to comprehend her choice, he came up blank.

“This man has tried to kill you, and I, on multiple occasions. He tried to destroy _everything_ when the Dark One simply because he acted like a petulant child and wanted all of the big bad dark ones before to take that out on everyone for him. Your safety is my number one concern and never mind the health risks of living on a ship that is no doubt infested with any number of diseases, but being with _Hook_ does not instil me with confidence.” He thought it only right; Hook had been just as dastardly in his life as he had, if not more so, but yet was given a free pass simply because he was knocking boots with the saviour.

“I’ve put a protection spell on the ship, for _you_. The Evil Queen may have agreed to leave you and our child out of her plans, whatever they may be but I am not naive enough to think that is enough to secure your safety.” Whatever she thought of him as a man, a father, a husband was irrelevant. So long as Belle was safe from all risks in the town - which in his opinion included Hook - then whatever irrational anger she held towards him was worth it.

He turned to leave but after a few steps, turned on his heels to return to her, pointing towards her a moment. “I could accept you seeking shelter with almost anyone in this town, aside from him. The only other person who has wronged me more is Zelena. If this is some form of punishment for the things I’ve done wrong then even this feels too harsh. For everything I have done, Hook has done something of equal or greater value. Yet he is forgiven enough for you to seek his shelter?” With that thought he turned to leave her. He wanted to leave her with that, to make her think and consider her actions. He was trying to give her space, to be respectful and to still protect her but he was still in the wrong for doing so. What had Hook done to win her forgiveness that he hadn’t?


	22. 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Rumple is freed from Zelena's clutches.

***Wraps my arms around you from behind***

Usually if anyone tried to touch him or even get remotely close to him, Rumple would have leapt out of his skin and well out of the way. But the delicate clatter of her heels on the wooden floor, her soothing scent and the sounds of her gentle breaths had all told him it was Belle approaching. The softness in her touch that was yet still firm and protective only served to emphasise what he had already known.

He wasn’t comfortable with people touching him. Especially after what Zelena had done to him. How she had abused him and stolen all of his safety. How she had destroyed his sanity and riddled him with fear and terror. Physical wounds may have healed, the scars faded by now but those beneath the surface were the most brutal of all. They’d become part of his very being, woven in to the fabric of his DNA as if it had been there all along. The man that had been a coward once was truly a coward again but this time, he hid it behind snark and smart suits.

He settled back in to Belle’s warm embrace, a hand resting atop her own. He sighed, a gentle sound and let his head tilt to the side, resting against where Belle had allowed her own chin to find a home on his shoulder. “I’ll never tire of this.” And he wouldn’t. These moments where one held the other, or they embraced each other were the moments he cherished most.


	23. 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 6A

**“I have a right to be angry.”**

“Yes, you do. But as of now, I do too, Belle.” Rumple responded to his wife with a calmness in his voice that was the polar opposite to how he actually felt. “So why don’t we talk rather than you constant sniping at me and getting angrier because I’m not answering your questions. It’s impossible to answer them when you won’t listen or give me an opportunity. All it does it prolong this pain. Burn the bridge with a hotter flame. If you and I just sat down and talked then perhaps we could stop that. Repair us. Make our future something to look forward to rather then dread.”

It was long overdue and he was tired of waiting, tired of fighting. Because ultimately all it did was drive them further apart. Belle was stubborn at the best of times but these days she was impossible. He could be too but he was trying. He was failing, but he was trying. He wanted to be a better man for her, but he also wanted to be a better man for himself. If she couldn’t see that or believe it then that was half of his battle already lost.


	24. 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drunk Belle has no filter.

**It really just depends on who’s giving and who’s receiving.**

It wasn’t exactly his choice of event to be at but the Charming’s decided on a party for their son’s first birthday which he suspected to be more of an excuse for everyone to gather, laugh and drink than anything else. Why on Earth would a one year old care about a party? He didn’t even care about his presents. Rumple had seen baby Neal occupied by one thing and one thing only for most of the night and that was a plastic toy he went to the party with.

But alas, he was sat there in Granny’s not hating his time there. In fact there was a part of him that enjoyed being part of a family, regardless of who it was he was family with. The only one he could tolerate most of the time was David, who had spent a good amount of the evening talking to him, mercifully. The company didn’t matter to him though as he sat with his and Belle’s daughter, Rose, sleeping soundly in his arms for the majority of the night. 

But now he was making his way towards the ladies - Snow, Belle, Ruby, Emma, Ariel and Dorothy - with a glass of water to hand, aware he needed to try to get that down Belle before she inhaled (it was going down that fast it was the only way he could describe it) her next colourful cocktail. He did however nearly stumble as he heard the conversation, which was _incredibly_ sexual in nature.

“Belle, sweetheart… water?” He offered, even as his cheeks flushed red. Ruby laughed at seeing him even if there was a part of her mortified at thinking of Rumplestiltskin performing a number of sexual acts on his wife. With Rose still soundly asleep in his hold and the water down on to the table, he adjusted how he held the girl to ensure with the added laughter and noise she continued to sleep.

“Rumpy Bumpy, who do you think is noisier? Me receiving or you receiving?” Belle asked her husband with flushed cheeks, clearly three or four drinks past being drunk.

With his eyebrows raising, his cheeks burning, he simply shook his head and took a step away from the raucous conversation. That was _not_ something he felt he could share with those ladies. 

Even if the answer was simple; it was Belle.


	25. 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 6A

**❛ It would be nice, to start over again. ❜**

The potion sat on the counter top, glowing green with the power of it’s intense magic. It was a potion he intended on destroying, one that was rare in it’s magic and destructive if in the wrong hands. It was, in effect, a bottled version of the curse that taken them all to Storybrooke in the first instance. A potion with the power of removing memories for good. A potion that gave you a new set of memories, a potion that was the culmination of years of work from another wizard that the town had apprehended.

“It would,” He responded to his wife though he shook his head, hand ghosting over the top of it as he used his magic to nullify the effects which caused the potion to no longer glow. If anything it looked like a vial of dirty swamp water now, not the potion it had been moments before. “But we can do that without this. I’d never give up our memories together, even the painful ones.” 

Which was why he’d obtained the potion in the first instance. Because a minute part of him had been tempted and had ensured that he swiped the potion before everything was destroyed by Regina and Emma. As painful as some of the memories were between he and Belle, he would keep them all just so he would be able to live their true love story in his memories. 

“Why don’t we start again? Allow me to explain myself. Allow us both to speak and air what it is that hurts us most. It’s the only way we’ll move on. Don’t– Don’t go back to that ship. Stay here and speak with me. Then this evening, come _home_. I’ll stay away from our bedroom, I’ll give you space but please… give us this opportunity to make a fresh start.”


	26. 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU Where Morpheus was playing a trick on Rumbelle all along.

**'It's a girl?''**

In his heart, he’d known something wasn’t right with Morpheus. Why would he be their son if he had gone to that very temple to seek his help in waking Belle? It was paradoxical in a way that defied all logic. It was like a time loop working backwards, an answer without a question and in his gut, he’d not trusted it.

But Belle had and so he tried, his hardest, to understand and to find rationale in it. But right now, there was no rationale. No comprehending what had happened. Only fury.

Morpheus had tricked them. He’d somehow tricked them in to believing an absurd lie, woken Belle and put a wedge between them. For what? That was an excellent question and one he was going to find the answer to. So with a squeeze to Belle’s hand as she lay there, Doctor Whale insisting the gender was indeed female, he slowly let go of her hand and shook his head.

“…I think it’s time I paid another visit to the temple of Morpheus.” With that, a clear fury in his eyes, he lifted his hands and vanished in a purple haze. Confrontation was a given and nobody, not even Morpheus, would want a confrontation with a furious Rumplestiltskin.


	27. 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rumbelle AU where the theories on Belle being a Fairy were correct.

**I’m only human**

Shaking his head at Belle he softly rested his hands on her shoulders, trying his best to encourage her gaze to meet his. She was in shock which was perfectly understandable. She’d just discovered that she was a changeling. A baby not born to those she grew up believing to be her parents. She was a fairy, gifted in ways she could never have imagined. It had laid dormant in her, only coming out at moments such as when she cast the protection spell over the town and now it had all come out, everything.

Morpheus feared their child; the product of The Dark One and a Fairy. Their daughter was to grow up to be a powerful wielder of magic and would ultimately be the greatest hero of them all. Not good for a villain like him. All because she grew up with the influence of both The Dark One and Belle, guiding her and helping her hone her magic. Hence his need to separate the two.

Rumple himself was taken aback by it but understood that his own shock and awe could wait. It was Belle whose life had been turned upside down by this and so Belle that needed the encouragement, protection and love that he was more than willing to provide.

“No, Belle my love, you have never been just human. Even without this knowledge, you have always been a true hero. Spectacular in every possible way. Now you simply have a dose of magic to go with it. Light magic at that. You have every right to be upset at what has been kept from you for so long but this is real. I’ll help you understand it, I’ll help you control it. I’ll be by your side every step of this.”

Softly spoken but determined; he would use his own experiences of struggling with realising his ability and needing to control it (namely the voices he experienced but knew she would thankfully not) to help his wife. Together they would get through this and together they would raise a wonderful daughter who would be the most magical of them all.


	28. 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Future Rumbelle AU where they had a daughter, not a son.

**"Should I even ask what happened here?"**

Rumple had never been so rumpled in all his many years. Rose was a bundle of energy, constant in her need to be racing around on her tiny feet, her lungs bursting with consistent noise. For a four year old she was incredibly intelligent - no surprises there - and certainly had a spark within her that he’d already seen signs of impending magical greatness.

But what she also had was a creative spark. Namely with finger paints. Rumple had been preoccupied with cooking dinner for the little girl - doing so without magic as he himself enjoyed the controlled thought process needed to cook - when she had managed to retrieve those finger paints. For a four year old, the whole world was a canvas and that included living room walls and herself.

By the time Rumple was calling her in to the kitchen for her dinner and she hadn’t responded, he’d found her covered almost head to toe in multiple colours looking proud as punch at her masterpiece. It was of course then as he tried to coax her to the bathroom for an impromptu - in her opinion - bath, that Belle returned from her time in the library.

“…perhaps not. Would you care to bath our daughter and I’ll…” he gestured to the living room. One occasion where he felt relatively confident Belle would have no issues with his using magic to repair. But he tried to keep the use of magic in front of Rose to a minimum. Yes, it was part of her and her world but until she was a little older and real discussions about it could be had he didn’t want to use it with too much of a flourish. To over use it would make it seem like a fall back option and he knew how much of a crutch that could be better than anyone.

“We might need more finger paints after this, too. And a higher shelf to put it on.”


	29. 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Future Rumbelle AU where they had a daughter, not a son.

**"You want to go out for dinner? Are you insane?"**

Usually Rumple would be in much the same boat as Belle but after a long - 73 minutes to be exact - discussion with David Nolan about caring for Rose, how often he wanted texting on how she was going (a compromise made at 15 minutes rather than the 5 Rumple originally demanded) and a very comprehensive list of things Rose did and did not like, and stories she would fall asleep to easiest he felt somewhat calmed enough for that long awaited date night.

“Belle, love,” Rumple began, his hands finding place on her upper arms as he pleaded with his eyes for her to meet his own. “Rose will be safe for the evening with the Charming’s. Nothing motivates a person more when it comes to ensuring the safety of a child than knowing one single scratch on her little self will mean they’re turned in to toads.” He paused after words spoken softly with his silky voice, lips quirking upwards in the corners.

“I’m kidding. I haven’t threatened them.” Rather, strongly implied a life as a toad if Rose were to come to any harm. Two obviously very different approaches to it. “So please, relax. We deserve a night to _us_ and Rose will have a wonderful time. Do you think we can have that dinner, Belle? I hear that your date is planning on a _very_ romantic evening indeed.”


	30. 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dark Castle Rumbelle

**a drabble about one character watching the other sleep**

She was an impossible force, wrapped up in a shell that was enchanting in all the worse ways. Whether she fought with him, berated him or simply showed signs of curiosity, he found himself somehow bound to her. Bound to protect her, needy for her attention. With others it was a simple transaction, an encounter born out of an entirely different need. With her it was something deeper, a need within to satisfy his blackened heart.

It baffled him and threw him to take the steps he did to ensure her comfort when in reality their deal had mentioned nothing of the sort. He’d started small with a pillow in her ‘room’. Then added a library with all the books he could find, with a comfortable seat that would double as her bed. It was large enough for her, soft and welcoming. Then he’d added a fireplace, candles and even a dresser with multiples of the same dress. It was a _home_ not a prison and he had barely registered his need to make it as such.

As per usual she had fallen asleep on her seat, book in hand with a now cold tea by the side. As per usual he was checking on her to ensure her comfort, that the fire was hot enough to heat the room, that the books weren’t hindering her sleep. He was taking the book from her hands and resting it down by the tea, a wave of his hand over the cup to ensure it was heated and would remain as such for her to drink when she awoke. But not as per usual he lingered, standing to watch her in her peaceful slumber.

Enchanted, he was, and unable to tear his gaze away. She could never return his affections, no. She could never love him as he feared he was doing with her. But in these moments when she slept he could allow himself to imagine it and pretend, to pretend that this was a normal life, with a normal home, with a normal setting. He could imagine and just for a second or two, for those brief little moments, he felt it.

He felt _happy._


	31. 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of the Belle as a Fairy AU

**''I can't cast a spell. I can spell spell.''**

Rumple exhaled as he pressed his hands to the glass counter on which he had laid out a few items, aware that he was fighting a difficult battle with Belle. But now her true self was known and he had done all he could to understand how this had happened with her, he wanted her to be able to accept herself for just that. The more she fought it, the more she resisted, the harder it would become. She feared the magic, but she needed to control it in order to alleviate that.

“Belle… need I remind you that you cast the protection spell over Storybrooke? You’ve used magic, but now you’re aware of your real ability. I know how frightening it is when you realise you have that power but you can control it. You have a head start on that; you have me. I didn’t have anyone and I had to learn it on my own. But I’m going to be your support.” Belle clearly still wasn’t happy with that and though he despaired over that, he understood. She wanted to be a hero and after everything he had done she no doubt saw magic as a path to darkness. Maybe it ultimately was but she was stronger than he ever had been and she could control that.

So he rounded the counter and approached her, coming to a stop before his very pregnant wife. “Our child is going to be capable of so much. Wouldn’t you rather that we both were able to help her control it, rather than just I whilst you worry about your own abilities?” He hoped the appeal to their child, to the safety of their child would help her. She needed to come to terms with this and she needed to accept it; what else was there to do?

Gesturing for his wife to walk with him to the back, he rested a hand on her arm as he waved his other to lock his shop up and guided her to sit on the sofa where so many of their moments together had been shared, both good and bad.

“You fear the power. I know you do and I understand. Blue had no right to keep you in the dark as she did but what I know of her kind - your kind - is that after incidents with dark faeries, they would use magic to… prophesy your future. What I have learned after a discussion with her,” in which he threatened to pull her wings off piece by piece as he ended her if she didn’t tell him what he needed to know, “is that they did so with you and made a mistake. A very grave mistake. They saw darkness. More darkness than with any faerie before but they were wrong. They saw your future yes, but they didn’t see it correctly. The Darkness in your future is me. You have light in yours Belle. Great power, more power than any of them, but it’s power you can use for good. You want to be a hero? You _are_ a hero, you’re my hero and have saved this town many times before. But now that task will be easier. You can do _more_ good. Isn’t it worth that? Worth this struggle right now? You’ve told me you want me to use my magic for good and I am trying to. But you have this gift where your magic is inherently good and designed for that good itself. Don’t waste it, Belle.”

In a way he admired her. He’d always struggled with the darkness and had done some terrible things but the man behind the monster was a good man. If he had been ‘cursed’ with light magic then he knew he could have done so many wonderful things but alas, it had been dark and had turned his heart dark along with it. But Belle had goodness in her, good in her magic and could do true good. If only she accepted it.

So he reached for her hand as he sat beside her and held it gently. “Please allow me to help you. I can promise that we will go at a pace you’re comfortable with and I won’t use a single bit of dark magic in this effort. I want you to be comfortable with who you are after everything and this is the first step to getting that back.” Pausing, he offered her a small smile, his shoulder nudging to her own. “If you like I can show you how to use your magic to repair the toaster or blender when you break it next?”


	32. 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU where Belle is the Dark One, not Emma

**❛ No… you’re not real! No… you’re not… ❜**

Rumple knew that Belle had those voices in her head that he himself had experienced for so very many years. He’d come close to death, she’d brought him back and now he had to do the same to her. As she held on to Excalibur about to take her life, to take away magic, he was approaching her. She thought him gone, sent away so could do this without him stopping her but Regina did something right with her magic, freeing him and sending him right back to Belle.

With his hands out stretched and resting cautiously on to the sword, Rumple shook his head slowly, hands slowly crawling up the body of the sword and to the hilt, to rest atop her own.

“Feel me, Belle. Feel my hands and know I’m here. I’m real. We can– we can work this out together. If you want to destroy the darkness then we’ll find a way. We will. Without you having to die for it. After everything we’ve been through, all we’ve overcome, do you think I’m going to just let you do this?” His tone was soft but sure as he tried to both calm Belle and make sure she knew that he was not leaving her side and he was not letting her do this.

“True love can break any curse. So we leave Storybrooke, we go to a land of pure magic and we find that again. We let each other in enough to make true love’s kiss work. We let each other in and that darkness will leave you. Just like it nearly did with me in my dark castle, remember? We can do this with one simple kiss.” He knew it would appeal to her heart and hoped it would be enough. They’d work out a portal somehow, find a way to leave Storybrooke and buy them the time to make the kiss work. He loved her deeply, truly, but he knew how difficult the darkness could make it to accept that. They needed the space and time to do it, and right now he was offering to give her that.


	33. 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> T rating

**“Is that a mirror in your pocket? Because I can see myself in your pants.”**

Rumple almost choked at the words he heard coming from Belle’s lips, his eyes widening. She was doing her very best to make life very _hard_ for him as he sat there, trying his best to not complain about having to participate in a party to celebrate a wedding between Ruby and Dorothy. He hated parties, he didn’t like most of the town and he knew that neither Ruby or Dorothy liked him very much. Belle had been invited and him as default but it seemed that his wife had found a way to make him sit in silence, no complaints, no sarcasm. Just suffering and want.

Shifting slightly in his seat with his hand straying to her knee, Rumple squeezed tightly to let her know her words were having her desired effect. His head tilted, lips close to her ear and he exhaled long and slow. Dark One he may be but he was also just a man. A man that was easily manipulated with words of desire and jest in to being on his best behaviour. 

“Sit in my lap, dearest, and you’ll know for yourself.”

Well, _almost_ his best behaviour.


	34. 34

**''I would rather die than let you fill your heart with darkness.''**

Rumple shook his head as he rested a hand on to Belle’s forearm, his other reaching in to his chest. With a soft sound, far too soft for the action itself, he pulled his heart free and held the item for Belle to see. It wasn’t nearly as black as it had been once before, but there was still darkness. He’d gone from his pure heart to this and though he had regrets, it was what it was.

“My heart already has darkness within, Belle. One more act won’t make any difference but it _will_ ensure your safety. Our child’s safety. I know you and I have much we disagree on right now, but your heart will never be like mine. I won’t allow you to darken yours and I won’t allow it to stop beating, either.” He knew she had some darkness in there; she must have to have killed Gaston, to have done some of the things she had since then. The hate she seemed to have for him didn’t come from a pure heart, that much he knew for sure.

“My heart won’t become as dark as it once did, I only hope you can trust me on that. But what needs to be done, needs to be done. The heroes are in agreement, shockingly. But I’m the only one who can do this. Regina can’t, she doesn’t have it in her anymore. Emma certainly can’t with her hands trembling as they do. I’m the only option. My heart can take it. The only thing it can’t take is you loathing me as you do now. That is something I intend to work on, when my work here is done.”


	35. 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> T for swearing. 6A

**“Don’t fucking touch me.”**

Rumple glared at his wife, though that term could only be used loosely right now. Belle and he were only married by the terms of a piece of paper, not in actual reality. She’d made her feelings towards him abundantly clear as of late and he had retreated in to himself, allowing the darkness to consume him. Because if his true love - had she ever really been that or had it been imagination? - loathed him, what hope did he have of ever being anything more than the beast she saw him to be.

He knew this day would come. That she would stop seeing good within him and would start to see him as the rest of the world, of worlds beyond this, saw him to be. He was a beast, a monster, not a man worthy of love. He was a failure, a plague upon her life. He was everything life up until Belle had told him he was, and then some.

“It’s for your own safety and protection. You feel you need protection from me, _dearie_ , and ironically it’s your impulsive irrational actions that have brought us here. I am by no means a saint but you need to realise you yourself are just as broken and dark as I. Your _stupidity_ will harm _our_ child. Because let me be abundantly clear here; that child is just as much mine as it is yours and no realm in existence, no spell your new friend can conjure will keep me from being a part of his life.”

He spat the words at her with a venom he had never, not even when banishing her from his castle all those moons ago, used towards her. But this was a sorry state of affairs, this was where they now lay. In tatters on the ground, trampled on with each step either of them took.


	36. 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> S3. T for themes relating to the pain he suffered at Zelena's hands.

**“And… and I love you! It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all along.”**

“No! You can’t love me!” Rumple was a broken man as he frantically moved around the room. He’d reached breaking point, he’d snapped, he’d become a man filled with rage and anger but most importantly above all, a man with a head filled with voices.

All of the dark ones, every single one, screaming at him, talking constantly, begging him for time to play their own wicked game. He wasn’t strong like he used to be, he didn’t have Belle grounding him. Quite the opposite, in fact. Her actions had made the voices louder, made his resolve weaker and he had lost his internal war. But as things escalated with he and Belle, as he struggled to contain that situation, the voices became louder, deafening even.

He didn’t sleep. He spent his nights spinning to try to quieten the voices enough so maybe he’d pass out for a few minutes, his bod getting a fraction of the rest it needed. He spent his evenings spinning because it was the only way he had ever been able to quieten his thoughts before. But no matter how many reels of gold he created, the voices were too loud for him to handle.

“So many voices, all the voices… all the voices in my head… will be quiet… when I’m… I’ll be dead and everything will be quiet. Quiet. Quiet.” He was frantic in his speech, his hands gesturing around as his eyes were wide. He was wired like a man who had drunk too many coffees and slept little but his caffeine was the drug of darkness, and his body refused to allow him the rest.

“I must spin, spin the voices away, spin them in to silence. Spin spin spin….” He repeated as he effectively forgot that Belle was there, forgot that they were talking, forgot that she was in the midst of giving birth. He was lost to the voices in his mind and the reality they were creating for him. So with a wave of his hands and a puff of purple smoke he vanished, off to his shop, off to spin, spin, spin away the voices.


	37. 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU where we got what we deserved and Rumple was by her side as she gave birth.

**"I don't think I'm ready for this."**

It was with a shake of his head that Rumplestiltskin took hold of his wife’s hand, clutching it between both of his own. He perched on the edge of the hospital bed in which she lay, a gentle smile on his face. His eyes were bright with joy, with love, with excitement and yes, a little fear. But he wanted her to know that she could do this, that he had every faith in her.

“It will always feel like that, whether our child comes today, tomorrow or later. But I can guarantee that nobody is more ready to be a Mother than you.” He spoke with that tenderness, that softness that he reserved for her alone. No biting comments for Belle, no condescending tone. Just love and compassion.

With one hand remaining in her own he touched her cheek with his other, tender in brushing back the hair that had fallen over her face in the rush to get her to the hospital the moment those contractions began a short while ago. He was terrified, of course, but excited too. He was determined to be a good father and a good husband, to make sure he did right by Belle and their child. So he would be by her side every second of her giving birth, he would support her after and he would do his very best to be an attentive father, and husband.

“You have compassion in your heart, love. You care for those less fortunate than yourself and make sacrifices. You have done since the day I met you and that is a very large part of being a parent. I see how you care for Neal when you look after him for the Charming’s and you’re a natural. The boy could scream down a barn but one second in your arms and he’s placid. You’re entirely natural and there is nobody more prepared, more _right_ to be a Mother than you.” He saw how she was with baby Neal and it warmed his heart. She had a way of calming the boy when he became restless and made him smile with it reaching his bright little eyes. 

Not only that but she fit the grandmother role with Henry impeccably well. She was a natural with the temperament needed to love and care for a child. She may not have believed herself to be ready but he believed in her enough for the both of them.


	38. 38

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lil' AU to 6A

**“Those things you said yesterday… Did you mean them?”**

Rumple’s back was stiff, his shoulders set firmly as he stood facing away from his estranged wife. The day before he had tried to encourage her in leaving Storybrooke by any means necessary in his destruction of her feelings and their marriage. He’d told her that he chose the Evil Queen over her and been utterly cruel when he did so. Did he mean that? Not in the slightest. But the Queen was on the warpath and he knew he needed to get Belle firmly out of her sights. If it meant that he had to break her heart then so be it. He’d rather she hated him and lived, than loved him and died.

But it was all going to hell and Belle clearly had opted not to leave even though the plan had been laid out for her as far as he knew by that dastardly Zelena. Who knew, perhaps she’d double crossed Belle and fled herself like the coward she was?

Finally he let his head drop forwards before he was turning to look at her, conflict clear on his face. With his eyes watering and lips pushing together he slowly shook his head, lifting a hand to gesture towards her. “How could I? Belle, why haven’t you left Storybrooke? You’re safer if you’re not here.” If she wouldn’t allow him to protect her. Of course, if she did, she could be the safest person in the entire town but it was what it was, and he’d tried to do his best with what they had.

“You need to leave. For your sake and that of– of our son. I want desperately to be his Father but as things are with us currently, your mistrust of me, the only way I can be sure you’re safe is if you’re not here.”


	39. 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 6A angst

**" Coward. That's all you are. A coward."**

“Sometimes the most courageous thing a man can do is take the weight of the world upon his own shoulders, regardless of the cost. There are ears everywhere, Belle and sometimes it’s safer for you to not be by my side than it is for you to be there. Right now, I can’t trust your intentions just as you feel you can’t trust mine. You’ve sided with the man who took my wife, who tried to kill both of us numerous times over. You’ve sided with the woman that killed my son and imprisoned me. You are as guilty as I in all of this but as I’m the one branded a villain it’s only my actions that are seen as wrong, or even as cowardly.”

He was laying right back in to her, utterly exhausted by it all. She stood opposite him in his shop, glaring at him for the latest rumour that she’d heard. Zelena had told her that he intended to use the shears on their son and though he knew he should tell her that was wrong, he couldn’t. His intentions were selfish, yes, but were not to harm their child. They were to sever his own fate, to allow himself an opportunity to have the happy ending a villain wasn’t granted. But if he told her as such he didn’t expect her to believe him. It would take courage to do what he intended and despite his shows of courage before - killing himself for her and Bae being the main one in his mind - he knew she saw him to be a coward.

“You hide behind the words of a child that cannot know what he was saying. He’s barely a formed child and cannot be capable of the thought that has caused you to leave me. You hide behind your own cowardice by snapping at me instead of _talking_. You don’t grant me an audience on terms other than your own because any time I don’t yield to you immediately is a time you walk away, afraid of what is to come. Life isn’t a fairytale, Belle. Fairytales come out of life. We will argue, we will fight and you will be angry at me. But each time that occurs you run away to the hypocrites that care not for either of us until it benefits them. So, dearie, take a long and hard look in the mirror next time you wish to call me a coward. I accept my many flaws and I accept that I’m a coward. But you? You’re the worst kind of coward, Belle. The kind that cannot accept it.”

It was harsh, it was rude even and it was the hardest he had ever been with her. But he was tired. He needed to let it all off of his chest and to make her see things through a different perspective. He was a coward sometimes, yes, but he wasn’t the only one. Not by a long shot.

“So if you’re quite done shouting at me, Belle, I have work to do. Work that will ensure your safety and that of our child even if you think I intend on the entire opposite.”


	40. 40

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dark Castle Rumbelle

**  
“‘And then Crowley handcuffed Dean to the chair, roughly straddling his–’ WHOA! Okay! Let’s just, uh… let’s put that one in the backpack for safekeeping.”**

Rumpelstiltskin was trying his best to keep his cool now that he had agreed - albeit reluctantly - to allow time to find a suitable home for the child that he had received in a trade. He didn’t enjoy those trades but if he saw a parent uncaring for their child and _willing_ to trade them then well, he was doing the child a service by taking them and giving them to another, wasn’t he? He himself would do anything to have _his_ son back so he had no time nor respect for those who made such a trade.

So he was making his way to the library where he had agreed Belle could keep the child for the night. Would he have done this for anyone else? No. But Belle insisted and he had relented. Seeing her so natural with the child had stirred something within him that he quickly quashed back down with a snipe and snark directed her way. But he was taking a blanket that was thicker than the one the child already had so that they wouldn’t catch a chill.

He did however pause at the door as he heard Belle’s tender voice, clearly speaking to the baby. Reading, to be specific. What she as reading however made him briefly smirk as something else stirred within him. She read books that contained such subjects? She had them close to hand? Scandalous! Yet simultaneously amusing and pleasing. 

No, he wouldn’t allow himself to be _pleased_ by it. Because it was insane to allow himself to be anything more than master to her subject. Even if master held connotations that he had entertained on more than one occasion when finding himself alone with his thoughts.

Still, he had to deliver the blanket and with a clear of his throat to announce his presence he surged in to the library with bravado and threw the blanket towards Belle. But how he threw it wasn’t aggressive or mean, and he knew she’d catch it. “One blanket. Do with it as you please. I’ll be taking the child to new parents in the morning. Am I to believe you’ll wish to join me?” He expected she’d want to witness that he was indeed giving the child to a suitable family and that it would be safe.

As she answered the affirmative he glanced down at the child, admittedly caring that it was doing just fine, before he was turning on his heel to leave the room. Not without a click of his fingers to ensure the fire grew so the room would be kept warm during the night and a lift of his hand to catch her attention. “I wonder if handcuffs are like shackles…” he spoke almost absently, making sure she heard and was aware of what he had heard. But smirking to himself he exited the library to leave Belle to stew and settle.


	41. 41

**One muse forces the other to wear ugly, matching christmas sweaters**

Scowling was an understatement when it came to the expression on the face of the Dark One. A Dark One who was currently wearing a hideous sweater with Santa emblazoned across the front. It was only the promise of it being ‘worth his while’ later from his darling wife that had him agreeing to even put the item on. But he had not agreed to going out in public in the sweater, never mind to Granny’s.

He could feel eyes on him. He could practically feel the glee radiating from people at seeing the all powerful Dark One clearly being told to wear something so garish. Belle didn’t seem bothered by her own sweater. In fact he was sure she was proud of it. Perhaps mostly for how ridiculous he looked in his.

Upon being told to stop pouting by his wife, Rumple folded his arms tightly across his chest, giving her a pointed and mildly irritated look. “I’m not _pouting_. I’m _scowling_. There’s a definitive difference.” He retorted, well aware that if he wasn’t pouting the way he spoke was quite clearly a pout in verbal means. But damnit he was Rumplestiltskin and big bad villains like him did not pout.


	42. 42

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> S6

**“It’s your fault we’re in this mess.”**

Turning abruptly to glare at his estranged wife, Rumple lifted a hand to gesture towards her, finger pointing at her with anger. They had fallen so far so suddenly and he didn’t know how they could possibly ever climb back up. She hated him, he knew that now, but what she had done still beggared belief. He’d been abandoned by both his parents and now she had sent their son away, effectively abandoning him too and forcing the abandonment from Rumple.

“You don’t get to blame me in this instance, Belle. If for once you had stopped barking at me and sniping to simply listen you would have been aware that I had no intentions of harming our son. _You_ made the choice to send him away. _You_ gave him to that fairy and _you_ took away any opportunity I had to protect him. Whilst I am not innocent, you aren’t either and until you can accept that, I’m going to find him on my own. You’ll only be a hindrance if you’re snapping at me every few seconds.” 

With that, he lowered his hand back down. He was going to take himself away with a puff of smoke but he knew in doing so he would be effectively losing his argument and stopping her from actually having an opportunity to listen. He was criticising her for not listening, so he’d be damned if he didn’t do the same even if the last thing he currently wanted was to talk to her


	43. 43

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> S6 AU. Death warning.

**“You can’t die. Please don’t die.”**

He was going to die. Again. Once wasn’t enough, it seemed, and this time he really didn’t feel ready for it. Not that he’d tell her that. No, his sacrifice had been for his son Gideon, just like his last had been for Bae. But just like with Pan, the only person who could defeat the Black Fairy was her son, Rumplestiltskin. The only way he could do so would be to die, to use the dagger and destroy the darkness within them both which in turn destroyed them.

He was afraid this time. Afraid because Bae’s sacrifice was now for nothing. Afraid because he wouldn’t get the opportunity to be a Father to Gideon. Afraid that his son would grow up thinking he’d abandoned him, just like his parents had before. Afraid because he knew if he weren’t around he couldn’t rely on the so called heroes to protect his family.

But he shook his head as he forced a smile at his wife as he lay in her arms, his breathing ragged as he felt a strange sort of bliss wash over him. It had done so the last time too before everything had become nothing and he knew he was about to die. “Protect and love our son for me, Belle. Be the parent he deserves,” he spoke, voice weak and wavering. He’d wanted so badly to be a Father to the boy, every choice he had made leading to him saving the boy. The shears? Were for Rumple to use on himself but now he wouldn’t have that opportunity. Now he wouldn’t be able to cut himself from his fate and be the Father that Gideon deserved.

“I– I love you.” He added, looking up at Belle with love in his tired and broken eyes. He did, no matter how rocky their road had been, how brutal they had acted to each other. The love he had for her was indeed true, and he could at least console himself with the fact that she could see that love whenever she looked at their son. Despite it all, Gideon was the product of true love and that was the legacy he was leaving behind.

Afraid as he may be, he knew at least that his son would be loved, and his wife would live on. Ultimately, they were the only points that mattered.


	44. 44

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> S6

**" Kindly get the hell away from me."**

Rumple rolled his eyes as he cast a glance towards Emma and Hook, sighing as he waved his hand to send the two away from he and Belle. He hated Fairies and he hated this damn covenant but he also hated that they were being watched. So he took that issue away, leaving both he and Belle there in the room she had just given birth in and given away their son.

“I would never hurt you, Belle. But you _know_ how I feel about Fairies and you sent our son away with one of the worst of them all.” He spoke quietly, clearly a broken man as he approached her and reached out for her arm. She didn’t want him to grab it but he did regardless, waved his other hand over it and the golden bracelet around her wrist popped open. 

After all, what point was there now in knowing where she was?

“You once told me only a monster takes their child away from their parents. Ironic, isn’t it? I’m supposed to be the beast in this story.” Shaking his head at her he backed away from her and looked back at the window as if trying to work out just where the Fairy had taken their son. “One day you’ll see that I’ve not done anything since you woke, since before you put yourself under the sleeping curse, to try to harm you or our son. It was all done for _you_. Ask your hero friends how much they tried to help wake you, and then ask yourself if it was worth trusting in them instead.” With that and a wave of his hand he was vanishing in his own haze of purple smoke. Truth be told, he couldn’t look at her anymore. For the first time he didn’t feel love when he looked at her; simply anger, hurt and disappointment.


	45. 45

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU where Rumbelle had a daughter, not a son.

**Do you feel better now?**

With Rose telling her Momma a quiet yes after her stomach bug had caused her to be sick, Rumple perched on the opposite side of the bed to his wife. Placing his hand on to Rose’s forehead to check her temperature, he gave Belle a brief look that had her nodding at him. He’d agreed no magic with regards to Rose but both of them were so heartbroken worrying about their little girl that they had agreed that if he could stop her being sick he could.

So with a white light between his hand and her forehead Rumple did two things; he took their daughter’s fever from her and eased her to sleep. “She should be fine now when she wakes in the morning.” Rumple whispered the words to Belle so as to not disturb Rose in her new found slumber.

Not abusing his magic was important to them all but Rose had taken such a sudden turn. Within a matter of two hours she had gone from happily playing imaginary tea parties with her parents to being sick and both had despaired. She’d not been sick before now and neither were prepared for how it would tug at their heartstrings and have them both wanting to hurl the ‘no magic’ rule right out of the window.

A rule that would most definitely not exist in future when it came to her being sick, of course. Rose was well aware of her Father’s ability and had seen it in action in the shop but the no magic at home rule was designed to make sure that no accidents happened and she didn’t grow up abusing magic herself. It was easy to fall in to a pattern of using it for the smallest of things and with all magic coming with a price, it simply wasn’t worth it.


	46. 46

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dark Castle Rumbelle

**“What do you think about this outfit?”**

Rumplestiltskin wasn’t exactly known for being nice unless it benefited him somehow. But he’d seen how Belle had struggled to carry out her maid duties in the confines of that terribly stiff yellow dress she had left her home in. With nothing else brought along she didn’t exactly have anything to change in to and he’d used an excuse to bring them to where they were now. With a tailor in his castle coming up with a dress more suitable for her. A few copies of it, too. He didn’t want to spoil her by giving her a varied wardrobe because he knew she’d take that as a sign of kindness. A uniform, that was what this was.

And of course a way to ensure her comfort whilst she worked. And whilst she sat in the library reading any of her endless supply of books. And whilst she fell asleep in the bedroom he had crafted for her. 

No, he wasn’t being kind! He was simply looking after his own interests.

He looked up from the parchment he was attempting to read, ready to just wave a hand at her and agree with whatever it was. If she asked then clearly it was a comfortable dress for her so that meant he had what he wanted. Of course when he looked at her he felt himself breathless as he stared.

Not just stared but almost gawped at her, having to fight to stop his jaw from dropping. She looked, well, beautiful. The blue brought out the colour of her eyes, the dress fit her form with perfection yet he could tell the material had give for comfort. The white detail added a pop that made the dress something more than a simple maid dress. 

Clearing his throat as he looked back down at the parchment, fiddling with it he nodded briefly, trying to cast aside any thoughts he had of attraction to the woman. Near impossible, of course. He was enchanted by her at the best of times but yet here he was, struggling to even remember how to hold parchment because of the effect she had on him.

“…yes, yes, fine.” He waved with a hand as he tried - and failed - to seem utterly uninterested by it. But she looked happy, and she looked comfortable and it had him again glancing at her as he once more waved his hand for her attention. “Have him make you a few. And… a number of other outfits. In the event I ever need to take you out of the castle again. I can’t have you freeze to death or otherwise or I’ll have to make my own tea.”

She was enjoying herself and the better part of him knew that. So what harm would there be in allowing her longer to indulge, allowing her to have more outfits made for other occasions? Perhaps they would come in useful or perhaps they would simply make her wardrobe look more like one within a home and not a prison. Not that he wanted that, no. Of course not!

He didn’t want to make her happy and comfortable, no! All he wanted was to see her smile every day, to give her a life within the walls of his castle and to ironically give her more than she had ever had as a princess. But no, he didn’t want her to be happy, what madness!

Gods above, he was in trouble.


	47. 47

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grandpa Rumple

**“Will you stop tugging at my sleeve?”**

“Sh-hh-hh!” Rumple hissed at his wife who had whispered her little warning at him. She’d told him to be on his best behaviour at the party for – hell, he didn’t know what, nor did he care, because those damned Charming’s would celebrate a toy in a cereal box – and he’d promised after seeing the heels she wore, well aware those were the ones she usually wore before seducing him. He was but a man, and he couldn’t help himself sometimes.

“Just _look_ ,” he tugged again as he slightly nodded his head off towards his grandson who was sat holding hands with that Violet girl. Rumple hadn’t been granted as much time with Henry as he would have liked, to be his grandfather but he was trying to get more involved. He knew it would be what Bae wanted and that alone was enough for him.

“…are they dating? If she breaks his heart I reserve the right to turn her in to a toad.” He whispered, which earned him a pinch to his thigh from his wife, narrowed eyes and an exasperated sigh. Of course, if Violet broke Henry’s heart Belle would be one of the first in line to give her a stern talking to but that would be it; no turning anyone in to a toad, no matter how much he wanted to.


	48. 48

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> S6

**"I never wanted anything from you."**

“But you did! You say you didn’t, Belle, but you did. You fell in love with the man and the beast but you wanted the beast gone. You may say otherwise but if you didn’t, you would learn to accept me as I am. I’m not a perfect man and I certainly never will be. But I’m not as flawed as you think me to be. Everything I do has a reason behind it. Perhaps I should tell you more of my reasoning but the whole point as to why I don’t is this.” He gestured between them, shaking his head as he looked a cross between hurt and frustrated. He knew she didn’t like when he did nefarious things but he was the Dark One. He was who he was and he wouldn’t be sorrowful for that. Not anymore.

“Do you ever wonder what our lives would be without my power? How each person who targets you to hurt me would have a free pass to you? Before I knew you I lived many, many years during which I made my share of powerful enemies. If I were without power, you would be at risk. Whilst it’s not all of my reasoning for taking the power back, for being the man I am, it’s a part of it. I would rather you loathe me and my powers than be in a position where I cannot protect you adequately.” He wasn’t going to apologise for what he had done in the past because each deal, each double cross had played in to his long game of survival and search for his boy. But he knew that it had caused issues for his life going forwards. Issues that a man without magic would perish in the face of.

Rounding the table to take a seat opposite his wife with his hands dropping to his lap, he had an almost vulnerable posture. There was no defensiveness to it, no attempt to be strong or tough with her. Simply the man who loved her, trying to get his case across to his wife. “You know yourself that my magic can do wonderful things. I _do_ want to be a better man for you. I _am_ a better man for you. Hundreds of years of habit are impossible to break but they have bent and if you take an objective look at our lives together, you’ll see that, I’m sure.”


	49. 49

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wish Realm where Belle isn't dead. Instead, she's become rather dark

**"Would you leave me if I told you what I've done?"**

Rumplestiltskin had dreamed of this moment for years. Waiting for a chance to be free from his cell, to find his love. He need to know the truth; If Belle were truly dead as Regina had told him or, if as he had begun to suspect (hope) over the years that she were still alive. His first stop was the Dark Castle where he intended on using an item of hers such as a hairbrush, a dress, to create a tracker spell. But when he arrived he found he didn’t need to do that; Belle was there. _Alive._

Dark. Very, very dark.

She explained that she had escaped to the castle after her family shunned her. Everyone believed her to be in league with the dark one, everyone mistrusted her and she was alone. So she returned to the castle in he hopes of finding him, finding it to be empty. So she stayed there and to protect herself began to read up on his books containing magic. As the years went by she learned more and more, dabbling with the darkness until it consumed her. He may have been the dark one, but she was dark.

It took him by surprise and though a part of him was elated that Belle was like him now, accepting of the darkness, he was also fearful. Not for himself, but for her. She was a pure spirit when he’d last seen her, she was the light in the dark that he was drawn to, that he loved. Was that woman lost? He certainly hoped not. But regardless it was still _her_ and so he approached her with a nod, hands extending out towards her. “I won’t leave you again, Belle. Tell me your tales.”


	50. 50

**❝ don’t we get to be happy? ❞**

A long, deep inhale and a slow exhale, Rumple knew that was the million dollar question. Their lives had been a roller coaster from day one and when things started to look like they were evening out, a sharp drop took them by surprise. Gideon had been the biggest surprise of all from day one. From pregnancy alone, the contract looming over him and everything that had come since, the fact that their son was a grown man wanting to kill Emma Swan was the sharpest drop of all.

They had to work together as a team now, no more fighting or mistrust. They had clashed over everything in too long and he knew that they needed to find the same page or their son would pay the price even more so than he already had done. Perhaps this would bring Belle back to him out of necessity as he had said, but part of him still held out hope that she would return to him out of love.

He searched his mind for a fitting way of answering her, settling after a moment with a quote he expected her to be aware of. Her literary mind had read books of all genres and ages, styles and prose and he knew that even if not immediately, eventually it would come to mind for her. “We have reached a place too dark to see, so we shall go together.” And that was his answer; they would be, but only if they worked through this _together._


	51. 51

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU in which Belle took on the Darkness, not Emma

**“Don’t patronize me! I’m not you!”**

Ever since Belle had taken on the Darkness there had been an understandable and noticeable shift with her. She clearly struggled, just as he had for many years. The only difference was that he accepted the darkness within himself, embraced it even. Perhaps it was why he had been the Dark One for so long in comparison to those who came before him. He’d _wanted_ the power and allowed it to take him as payment for that. But Belle with her hero complex would be at odds with herself every second of every day, he knew that.

She also seemed to find his attempts to help her more annoying than not, which he again understood. There were so many heightened emotions you felt for the first time when you were fresh to being the Dark One. It was unlike anything you knew how to control otherwise, overwhelming in ways you had never even contemplated. He’d managed to control that but he knew the battle all too well.

So with his hands up defensively, trying to calm her down so she didn’t poof away in a fit of frustration, he slowly lowered them and took in a deep breath. He wasn’t offended by her words, far from it. He knew he’d been weak to the darkness over the years and made many a mistake because of it. He was a villain even in her eyes sometimes and that meant she would expect more from herself than he had been. He’d been weak and given in, but Belle wouldn’t want that. No, she would want to use the Darkness for good, to make it in to something light. The impossible, of course.

“You’re right, you’re not,” he began evenly, wanting to relay to her that he understood whilst trying to get her to _think_ and see things for what they were. “I was the Dark One for hundreds of years. I learned how to control it in my own way. I understand that right now you have more voices than you’re accustomed to shouting at you to do this, to do that. You’re a stronger person than I, but that doesn’t mean you can’t accept my help. Please, Belle. Let me help you.”


	52. 52

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU in which Belle wasn't locked up during the curse.

**Stop fighting everyone.**

Huffing over at Miss. French, Mr. Gold placed both hands on the top of his gilded cane, staring over at her with an expression that screamed about how unimpressed she was. He’d learned quickly to keep most of his business dealings out of sight of his shop assistant, considering how she seemed to constantly want to play a white knight for those in need. That wasn’t good business for him; if people owed him, they paid him one way or another.

There had been an _incident_ with the manager of The Rabbit Hole - a foul little place in his opinion - where he had only presented around 80% of the required rent. Citing poor sales he claimed he couldn’t afford to pay but as Mr. Gold told him, you budget for what is required. Excess from previous months can be saved, invested in your future. 80% wasn’t enough and it was only after he’d told his henchmen (as the town so delightfully called them) to remove crates of the alcohol that the manager had suddenly been able to conjure up the remaining funds.

Something that caused Gold to launch in to a tirade at the other man as he stood in his shop having raced there with the money to make sure his stock wasn’t removed. He’d only stopped when Miss. French had come to work with two coffees in hand - she insisted on bringing him one, which he always drank, claiming it to be begrudgingly that he did - and given him a look of utter disapproval.

“It would serve you well to remember that my business is just that; my business. Miss. French, he attempted to con me this month to save himself money that he could pay. I feel that I was justified in what I did. Whether you agree or not is by the by.” He paused as she cocked an eyebrow up at him; the one person in this town who didn’t take his shit and so the one person he actually liked and respected. “Well. I should get back to work.” Clearing his throat, suddenly feeling like a naughty school boy being told off just by a single look, he tapped his cane to the floor, turned on his heel and hurried to the back of his shop.


	53. 53

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dark One Belle, Spinner Rumple

**I get so lonely down here.**

Walking cautiously around the grand table he wasn’t sure if his master was jesting or not. He knew she liked to quip at him, that she liked to keep him on his toes but he still felt entirely wary of her. It had been 3 weeks since the deal had been struck and he had agreed to work for The Dark One. Rather, be at her beck and call, make her tea, do her laundry; anything and everything menial fell on to his shoulders.

So he swallowed thickly as he tried to balance the tray of tea with one hand as he limped and used his other hand on the staff to help him walk. “I– well, I would– I would imagine so, Miss. Belle,” he replied, barely lifting his head to meet her eyes. He couldn’t even begin to contemplate how lonely it would be to inhabit a place so large with so many people loathing and fearing you on the outside. Yes, he’d lived a lonely life but he’d had the spinners, he’d had his son; parts of it had been spent with people around him but he couldn’t imagine that she had ever experienced that herself.

He should have been focusing on what he was doing but instead was lost in his pondering as his staff caught on the lavish rug beneath the table entirely too large for one person. He lost his footing, tumbling down to the floor, following the tray that slipped from his hands. With a crash the silver platter bounced across the floor, the china scattering. Mercifully, magically, most of it seemed unharmed having been dropped when relatively close to the floor on his fall on to the very rug that had tripped him. But as he scrambled to his knees and reached out to gather it up, he caught sight of one of the cups and felt himself pale.

It was chipped.

Looking up at his master, the Dark One herself, there was clear trepidation in his voice as he carefully caressed the china, holding it to her. “I– I’m so sorry. I lost my footing and I– it’s– it’s chipped, Ma’am. I’ve chipped your cup.” He was ready to accept whatever punishment came his way, ready for however she chastised him. Even if she had no intentions to do so and instead stared at him, incredulous; who on earth would feel so sorrowful over a simple _cup?_


	54. 54

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> S6

**“It’s not that you’re wrong, exactly, you’re just extremely not right.”**

“All I’m saying is that due to technicalities, a 28 year old son isn’t entirely infeasible for us. I’m hundreds of years old and you’re–” he trailed off as he saw Belle raise that eyebrow at him. The one that told him that if he were to continue, terrible things would happen. Threats to his manhood would ensue and one of these days she would spite them both and follow through. It didn’t matter that she technically was around her 50s now due to the 28 year curse, her years before and the time since it had broken. Age was relative and she most certainly did not feel as old as she technically proved to be.

“You’re right. No more talking ‘worst case scenario’. We _will_ find a way to return our son to being an infant and we _will_ take away these years of pain he’s suffered. Together. We will.” Much better, he could tell, as the eyebrow slowly lowered, the lips no longer were pursed in a braced challenge. Instead her features softened just as his did, and their hands once more found place together.


	55. 55

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dark Castle Rumbelle

**“I have the right to be worried!”**

Rumplestiltskin simply huffed at his maid and attempted once more to brush her off, having retreated in to himself after his little _incident_ on a deal. So he’d been caught slightly off guard and stabbed with a weapon imbued with a potion that could harm him. It wasn’t like he’d lived without pain before in his life. He’d promptly killed the perpetrator and the man with which he was making the deal which he suspected now to have been nothing but a ploy, an attempt to take the life of the Dark One.

Oh, how the people would sing if that were the case. Buffoons didn’t realise that the death of one just brought about another and then they’d be sorry when the next Dark One tore their families limb from limb just because the voices in their head told them to do it. They’d be sorry when they realised that as far as evil, cantankerous, nasty bastards went, he ranked quite low on the scale.

Belle had seen him as he hauled himself up to his tower, searching for a potion to stop the bleeding in the wound. He wouldn’t _die_ but he was in pain and getting blood all over his favourite breeches. Mercifully it seemed that Belle had at least mastered removal of blood stains on clothing over her time with him in the castle, so if nothing else he knew any mourning the loss of said breeches was premature. It made it no less irritating, of course. 

So now she was fussing around him, dabbing at the blood with a cloth that was too far gone to be able to clean any of it by this point judging by the red staining it. He’d protested, he’d glared and he’d even used magic to put her on the other side of his tower door but she’d simply stormed back in telling him that if he did that again he’d be served salt in his tea and not honey for the foreseeable future. 

He liked to think that it was the injury weakening him until he’d managed to consume the potion that gave her the advantage when she used brute force to get him to lounge back on the pillow and cloth covered rattan in the corner of the room. So he simply cursed quietly and let his head loll back, hand waving idly towards the potion he’d frantically been brewing, silently asking her to bring it to him.

“Worry not, Dearie. If I died the castle is enchanted enough to provide you with food and warmth.” He spoke with a bite, directing fury at her when it was the furthest from what she deserved. It took him a moment to register how crestfallen she looked as she silently handed him the potion and, once he swallowed the yellowish liquid down he knew he’d spoken out of turn, cruel with his insinuation that she cared only for herself, and not for him. Her actions alone were the polar opposite to that accusation, and he felt more pain from seeing her sorrow, than from the wound itself.

“…I appreciate your concern.” He mumbled, head dipping down just so with sorrow and apology, looking at her through his eyelashes in a nervous hope that she understood his means of apology, and even better, accepted it.


	56. 56

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DarkOne!Belle and Spinner!Rumple

**"What has been done can not be undone."**

He knew that it seemed hopeless and he’d lived that himself. The voices, the temptation, the power and fear constantly running through your mind. It wasn’t easy, not a second of respite, and it felt like a constant war waging deep within. He’d managed to control it faster and better than any other Dark One but he still saw the image of the one before, taunting him, tempting him, trying to show him that it didn’t matter how hard he tried to be good; he simply wasn’t made of sugar and spice or all things nice. He was made of darkness and despair, loneliness and anger. 

If he hadn’t been unconscious on the cot in the back of his shop, teetering on the line between life and death he would have fought with everything he had, with his last breath if need be to keep Belle away from the darkness. But she had taken it on, heroic in her endeavour, sure that she could find a way to control the beast within. But even the most pure of heart couldn’t fight centuries of darkness held within and she was struggling. Struggling as she used Henry as bait, forced her love to fight a bear to protect him all to make him in to what she always knew he was; a true hero.

Regardless of what she did he knew that Belle was fighting it, that she must have some sort of heroic plan in mind. Because that was the Belle he knew, not the one forcing him to fight or the one that had seemingly taken the memories of everyone around them. He knew he could get through to her and find that goodness within and that he could help her come back. He knew what she was going through and he knew what it was she needed; someone to believe in her.

Shaking his head at her sullen words he cautiously approached, tentative in how he reached out, wary even as he rested his hand on her arm. A touch he knew she’d struggle with simply because the moment you were touched by such love when you were filled with such darkness genuinely felt like a stab to the arm. It was why he’d jumped so many times back in the Dark Castle, recoiled and left her touch. Because the shock of it, the contrast of light on dark was something even a mind as great as the one containing the dark one couldn’t comprehend.

Mercifully she didn’t immediately recoil and he remained in place, gazing at her with love and trepidation all mixed in one. “There will be ways, Belle. I– I’m here, aren’t I? I survived losing the darkness and you will too. We can find a way. I just need you to let me in, to let me help you. I know, I know every instinct right now is telling you to run, to ignore me but listen to the ones deep inside. To the Belle I know, the Belle you know. My wife. Let me help you and we can find a way.” Together they’d save her, together they’d free her. He had to believe it, and he wouldn’t stop until they’d succeeded.


	57. 57

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DarkOne!Belle and Spinner!Rumple

**Do you know how hard I’ve tried to become what you want me to be?**

Rumple looked up at the Dark On with an emotion showing in his eyes that he wasn’t accustomed to feeling around her; fear. Belle had been kind to him in her own way and he had found himself falling for her. She may well be his master but it didn’t _feel_ like that. The deal they had struck, that he would serve her in return for having attempted to take her life was one that had turned out for the better. He knew she was trying to find his son for him, he knew she was kind to him, he knew she cared. He knew it all

But he didn’t know what had brought this on. She was angry, she had broken almost all of the teaset in a fit of rage as he stood stiffly in the middle of the room, too scared to move an inch. He thought they were simply enjoying their usual back and forth, that his quip would be taken in jest but there was something dark to her mood today, something deeper than he had expected and she had lost her temper.

It struck him though that he honestly didn’t know what she meant. He had never once told her he wanted her to change, or to be something different. No, because that hadn’t been who he had found himself falling for. He had fallen for the flawed woman with the darkness, the woman with kindness in her heart and softness in her soul. The woman with the ability to turn lands in to dust in an instant, or to cause long dead flowers to bloom. She was a mixture of light and dark that combined to make an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in the form of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He didn’t need her to change. He didn’t want her to change.

He simply wanted _her._

Finally he managed to summon the courage to speak, at least to attempt to do so. His mouth felt dry and he cleared his throat, his voice wavering on the syllable of her name. He fell silent again then, repeating it shortly in a firmer, more sure sound that seemed to cause her to still in the midst of her rage.

“…I never wanted you to change. You are who– who you are, Belle. I–I care for you regardless of the darkness. I do. I do.” He was almost pleading with her as she again flared with anger. No, she was afraid. Afraid of how she felt for him, of how he felt for her and she was taking that fear out on him in the shape of anger. So as she bellowed for him to leave, the fire at the end of the room flaring in response to her anger he almost stumbled as he took a step back, and another, until he was doing as she wanted. His body trembled and his heart ached as he came to a realisation; they’d taken one step forward in their relationship, and two large leaps back.


End file.
